Kane, Daniel Bryan and Vicki Guererro Segment
It appears that the end of Kane and Bryan may be written in the stars. It appears we are coming full circle with the involvement from Dr Shelby next week. Its probably about time as I said earlier but a couple more segments with these two would never go amiss. Much like this segment they work so well together comedically and Bryan has come on leaps and bounds in finding a character. Its now time to tone it down though I think and get serious. The man needs to hold the WWE championship! Oh and Vicki was there as her usual shouty self. Im glad that she hasnt been forced down our throat as the GM on RAW but I would like to see her involved in less trivial occurrences on RAW unless she is shown to be actively creating matches and running the show. Kofi Kingston Vs The Big Show
I was actually quite a fan of this even though it was as simple as one punch and the three count. It put Show over in a big way and, seeing as he is the world champion, it didnt really harm Kofi especially as it was the refs involvement that caused the opportunity. Kofi is better than this and coming off of his feud with Barrett this was just filler until he finds purchase again with someone else. It could lead to a Big Show feud which could do wonders for Kingstons future now Show is playing the best game of his career. Ending Segment
CM Punk is a master on the mic of that there is no doubt and just by noticing the crowd were silent for the majority of the time Punk spoke speaks volumes on how engaging he is. This promo was up there with the best weve ever seen and in some regards was even better than his Pipebomb. It basically disarmed Rock before he even uttered a single word. I can just see CM Punk hearing backstage what Rock was going to say and basically saying to himself well Ill fight each point you make before youve made it. The fact that this promo also explained his heel turn and the apparent use of a face persona made it an important promo. Im not sure how happy some of the guys in the back felt by Punks portrayal of them, mainly Daniel Bryan, but Im sure that each roster member mentioned understands the purpose of the truth being used. Another great part of this promo is that he essentially broke the fourth wall but kept kayfabe alive at the same time. The Rock just looked out of his depths with an actual promo wizard in front of him. Ill admit this was the most like The Rock that Dwayne has been throughout his Return but he still isnt the same guy. Much like Cena at the start of the show his constant 6th grade humour derailed the seriousness that Punk had established and ultimately harmed his own image. He was entertaining enough of course but their match at Royal Rumble is not just about once in a lifetime its about the WWE championship and CM Punks 400+ day title reign potentially coming to an end. The end of the segment would have been amazing if punk had ended with the Your arms arent long enough to box with god followed swiftly by the Rock Bottom. Instead we got more of The Rock being average before the Rock Bottom. Perhaps it went a little too long. The Rock didnt ruin this not by a long shot. The entire segment was still very good and a great way to build to their match at the Rumble. It just couldve done with some slight tweaks to make it perfect. Other Notes
The opening video highlighted just who and how many people Punk has defeated over his reign. You could look at this in two ways. That Punk has beat everyone and the Rock WILL beat him or that Punk can beat ANYONE and will beat The Rock. Its intriguing but the way it was delivered seemed very much like theyre leaning towards If Rock cant do it then no one can It seems some time off for the talent did them all a world of good. Each performer looked fresh and pulled off fairly good matches. It adds more fuel to the fire to the question; Should WWE have an off season?. A time when house shows no longer occur and the roster only has to worry about Monday and Tuesday for Smackdown! tapings. Finally it was nice to see some of the lesser seen jobbers involved with some of the higher profile talent although I think that maybe there was simply too much involvement from nobodys causing each match to become predictable.
Chris Wood
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WhatCulture WWE Editor: An Ex Wrestler, Computer Game Retail Employee, Batman fanatic and all round nerdy man who's views on Wrestling and all that come with it border on the obsessive.
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